Apex's girls finished third overall at last year's state championships, while Fuquay-Varina's boys were fifth.

But no Tri-Nine school has ever won a team track and field title.

While team titles have been elusive, individual titles have not.

Fuquay's boys return senior Brian Davis, fresh off his win in the 500-meter dash title from indoor track season.

Cary junior Bakri Abushouk is the conference's top boys distance runner, placing second at the 1,600-meter during the indoor championships.

On the girls side, Green Hope's 4-by-800 relay team has a chance to do what Cary's did last season - set a state record. In fact, the Falcons already set a state record in indoors season, as Lauren Colberg, Erica Amatori, Sarah Alexander and Maura McDonnell ran 9:25.85 in the event.

Green Hope had three runners-up at the indoor championships: McDonnell (1,000 meters), Amatori (1,600) and Rayna Vyars (pole vault).

Apex has two girls standouts in Alexis Murphy - a South Carolina recruit who won the 200-meter dash and was runner-up in the 100 last spring - and pole vaulter Audrey Diener, a runner-up from 2011.

The Cary Academy boys track and field team finished fifth in the NCISAA championships last year, led by distance runners Thomas Graham and Colin Godwin. Graham and Godwin finished first and second respectively in both the 3,200-meter and the 1,600-meter.

Staff writer Tim Stevens contributed to this report.